Resident Evil 4 (2023)

In the middle of Resident Evil 4 Remake, where you play as Leon S Kennedy. Of course the S stands for slow as Leon has the stamina of 65 year old smoker, his hands are as steady as a storm trooper, and he is as nimble as a tank stuck in the mud. I've also never played a third person game that makes me feel like I've got less situational awareness than a toddler running through a crowded mall. Leon might be less Delta Force and more Tropic Thunder.

Although I've largely enjoyed the remake so far, I think ramping up immediately to hardcore takes a little bit of the fun out of it. It's nice to have standard enemies that feel dangerous, but boss fights have become mundane as you don't excitedly squeak by, you simply die and try again until you master the encounter. Enemies also don't feel real in their placement as the game likes to randomly spawn them.

It was a classic when I played it on the Gamecube in 2005, it was a classic when I played it on the Wii and it remains a classic with the remake.

Absolutely 10/10 of a game and one of the best in the RE4 series. Loved what they did with the remake, and hopefully, we get a remake of 5 as well.

My October spooky game is Resident Evil 4. The shooting is top notch and the quicktime events seemed to have been improved a bit from last time, though I would still prefer a good old dodge roll to make it more interactive. I particularly liked the fight with the 2 blind wolverine-wannabes that you could lure to kill the regular enemies through the use of sound.

The pivot away from Racoon City and Zombies is a breath of fresh air, creating a new threat that was similar in principle but stylistically gave way to great new grotesque monsters. Luis is a fun and mysterious sidekick, though Ashley is a bit more of the standard damsel-in-distress.

Nowadays, I still prefer the more tension filled RE2 remake as there have been plenty of 3rd person action games since RE4 came out. However, it is still a ton of fun.

Just hit the halfway point and WOW. You expect a remake of one of the best games of all time to be good but feel a bit like reheated leftovers. Not this one. Underdiscussed aspect is how much it throws at you and how quickly. Played for an hour a few nights ago and felt like I had three memorable boss encounters AND had plenty of slower moments to build tension and dread. Masterful all around up to this point.

I recall the back half of the original being a bit flabby and have heard the remake fixes this. Hope that is my experience. If so, we're looking at a Top 10 of All Time contender.

I found a $20 off voucher in my car (a stamp card - buy 6 used games, get $20 off any used game) so I was like, "You know what? Let's finish off my 2023 wish list." Baldur's Gate 3 has been ordered, I'm waiting on Alan Wake 2 to release physically or drop significantly in price, and Freedom Planet 2's console release just... Never happened. "Summer 2023," ya sure ting dere bud. 👍

First impressions on RE4 Remake are... Mixed. I only got to Chapter 3, so I'm not too deep in, but the game just feels kinda, "Walk a bit, combat arena, walk a bit, combat arena." I'm enjoying it for what it is, but I had to crank the difficulty down to easy (with aim assist off) because the enemies are way too damn bullet spongey on normal. They really overcompensated for the overpowered nature of the roundhouse kick and knife here, and I found that the stagger in the original is what made the fights fair in the first place.

I'll keep playing though. I do dig the harder lean into horror and away from camp, so we'll see which version of RE4 I wind up preferring.

A word of advice to anyone who likes to play games on higher difficulties: You will get your ass handed to you if you choose Hardcore on your first playthrough. The game recommends this difficulty to anyone who played the original, but that won't prepare you at all. You gotta LOVE some challenge to do this. It's doable of course, but you'll definitely get damn frustrated at some points. I considered restarting the game at the lodge that you're fighting off waves of enemies in with Luis, but I managed to push through it.

But anyway, this game is amzing and high difficulty does add something. Just be warned.

After finally beating Baldur's Gate 3 and coming out of that shell, I decided to play two DLCs that I've been holding off. RE8 Shadows of Rose and RE4 Separate Ways.

Shadows of Rose was a bit disappointing. Not the gameplay itself, because that was fine. I was even sort of on edge in some parts of the game. The mood is solid! But it drops the ball with its story. I wanted to know more about what happened AFTER RE8 or a new hint of what's next. Instead, we got nothing.

Separate Ways was on a whole other level, though. It might even be better than the original. It did lose the "new, yet familiar" feeling that the main game brings since a lot was changed. But probably for the best. I had a blast with it. Such a lovely remake.